238 238: A clash of ideals [pt2]
‘We were just together. Then how did this end up happening? How did I get separated from Karan just like that?’
Aurora was sure she could feel Karan’s presence behind her back but he was not there when she reached the end. How that ended up happening, even though she had no idea.
But he had gotten lost somewhere along the way and now she was sure she was lost.
This place might be the fortress Aurora had grown up in once upon a time, but it was no longer a place she recognized.
“Man, what a pain. Now I’ll have to manually check every door to nowhere Karan ended up at. I knew I should have bugged him when I had the chance. It would have made things so much easier.”
It had not even crossed Aurora’s mind to present the other god with a system and now she kind of regretted her decision not to do so.
But then again, gods powers were volatile and not something that should be mixed. This was something that should not be experimented with out of the blue.
And since things had come down to this, Aurora had no other choice but to follow her gut feeling. Her system could not scan the palace map because of the magical interference.
In that sense, her system was worthless and she was incredibly lucky that she had not caused any major hiccup for now.
With no other leads to follow, Aurora pushed open the door to her right and entered the marshy land.
The room turned into a forest with a dense canopy and plenty of wildlife. It was so thick that even the light could not penetrate until the ground.
And because of this, there was a lack of wildlife present on the ground. The forest floor laid bare any kind of interference.
“I never knew this palace had such a place built inside it. I wonder why I never went in here?”
Aurora half mumbled, and half-yelled those words out. They echoed back at her after some time, creating confusion in her mind.
Why a forest had such a prominent echo, she had no idea.
But she kept on walking more profoundly until she reached a clearing.
In the vast darkness provided by the thick canopy, that clearing seemed to be the only spot of light. It shined brighter and Aurora felt drawn to it.
She felt like she had to be in the light to get the answers she needed. But even she did not know what kind of answers she was looking for.
The further she walked, the more she realized that she was not as alone as she had expected herself to be.
There was someone already sitting on one of the chairs in the clearing. And this someone was a person Aurora had wanted to avoid meeting all this time.
The light blue hair and those golden eyes that looked just like hers were frequent visitors to her nightmares when Aurora was younger. And now facing that familiar face made Aurora realize that she had never managed to bury her fears completely.
“You took your sweet time in coming here. Now come and have a seat. I am sure we have things we need to discuss with each other. I know that you have been curious about a lot of things. It’s time I answer some of them for you.”
Aurora’s mouth went dry at the unexpected offer. And it was unexpected enough to make her take a step back to consider.
‘Things are never that easy. I cannot see what mother is planning but she is planning something for sure. I can feel it in my bones.’
For some reason, the person Aurora was most in tune within this world was her mother. One word from this lady could shift Aurora’s entire perspective. Aurora’s world revolved around her at one point in her life.
“What are you thinking about? Hurry up and sit down. I won’t ask you twice about it.”
‘Of course, you won’t. You think of yourself as too self-important to bow down to the likes of us. It will be beneath your station to do so.’
But Aurora sat down nonetheless. Her body might be that of a goddess but it still housed a soul that had lived under the hands of this woman. As such, it unconsciously followed the will of her mother.
Aurora did not even realize what she did until she was sitting down firmly in front of a bemused Lady Dirac.
“So I still have sway on what you do? It is nice to see you being this obedient for once in your life.”
Aurora had a lot to say to that but she chose to keep quiet in the end. It would not do her any good to egg her mother’s fantasies about her any more than she already had.
Still, Aurora wanted to get in at least some words before giving up completely.
“My curiosity is not something that can be sated with the help of a few well-placed words. Are you sure you are ready to commit to my demands?”
“That depends. Are you sure you are ready to hear the answers I am about to give you? They might be a tougher pill to swallow than you are expecting it to be.”
This was a first for Aurora to be hearing those words from her mother. Had it been anyone else, Aurora would have taken this concern at face value.
But this was her mother. Every word that came out of her mouth was a double-edged sword.
“I will hear you out at least since I am mentally stronger than you think. But of course, you won’t know that since you never looked at me properly.”
Aurora took the seat finally but her eyes did not stray away from her mother’s figure. The lady was looking at Aurora with dark eyes.
‘Have I finally managed to crack her facade? It feels good to render her speeches for once.’
Aurora felt good about herself. Her mother was not glaring at Aurora yet but it was a near case.
Ultimately, Lady Dirac dropped her cup into the saucer and started Aurora right in the eye. And despite herself, Aurora found herself gulping her nervousness down.
“Soooo, how much do you know about our household and yourself? Do you think that you and I are related? What about your father? Have you ever wondered who he was?”
Now that Aurora thought back to it, the thought of her father had never crossed Aurora’s mind. She had always known herself to have a brother but never a father.
‘Did that thought never really cross my mind? Or, is there something more to this?’
Aurora hated this about herself. Her curiosity often let her forget everything else around her and laser focus on the main issue. And in this case, it was related to her origin.
“I cannot say that ever cared about such stuff before but now you made me curious about it as well.”
There was a subtle feeling of fear inside Aurora’s heart. She did not if she felt fear or excitement right now.
But whatever it was, she did not want to face it. Nor did she want to face the truth that was about to spill from Lady Dirac’s mouth.
Somewhere inside her heart, Aurora felt fearful of the future and what it might mean for her.
‘Should I not ask for the clarification of this? But I still want to know more about myself and who I am.”
Aurora was indecisive in speaking up but it did not seem to be a hindrance to Lady Dirac. She was much less of a mother and more of an overlooker anyway so she did not need to care about Aurora’s opinion or her feelings.
“Then, let’s start with the easy question. I am sure you are well aware of the powers to duplicate someone and cone them. You came across them already, right?”
Aurora nodded to let Lady Dirac know that she was understanding what was being said. Of curse, Aurora knew all about that technology and how it worked
Natasha had been a perfect result of that technology and Aurora was proud to have known her. But what did that have to do with her condition?
“Then, what if I told you that you are in a similar situation? Now, of course, you can refute my words but that will not change the truth of this matter.”
Aurora felt those words ring in her ear before she shut her mind down.
“I am sure that you and I are nothing alike except for our looks. Doesn’t my brother look similar to us as well? And I doubt that he is your clone as well.”
Aurora shot down the very idea since it did not sit down well with her. She expected Lady Dirac to continue but the Lady fell silent after that before opening her mouth to pass one final blow.
“Who said that you are my clone? In fact, it’s more appropriate to say that it is the other way around. You are the real body who gained consciousness while I am the clone.”